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An Apollo Lunar Module, the vehicle that ferried astronauts to
and from the surface of the moon, was moved into the National Air
and Space Museum's
"Boeing Milestones of Flight" Hall this week in
preparation for its conservation, modification and display
debuting with the hall's re-opening in July 2016.

The museum's moon lander isn't a replica. The second of the lunar
modules to be built, LM-2 was intended for an uncrewed test
flight into Earth orbit in 1968. The first test flight, Apollo 5
with LM-1, was so successful though, that LM-2's flight was
deemed unnecessary. No longer needed by NASA, the LM-2 was
transferred to the Smithsonian two years later.

In addition to a careful cleaning, details will be added to the
artifact's exterior to create a near-exact representation of
LM-5, the lander flown by Apollo
11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Because
none of the lunar modules were designed to return to the Earth,
all of the examples of the craft that are on display in museums
are test vehicles or replicas.

For almost 40 years, since the opening of the National Air and
Space Museum in Washington, D.C. on July 1, 1976, LM-2 was
exhibited on the east end of the building. It will now be the
centerpiece of the
renovated Milestones of Flight Hall, which is the museum's
central and largest space.

The Apollo Lunar Modules (LM) were two-stage vehicles designed to
ferry two astronauts from the moon's orbit to the lunar surface
and back. The upper ascent stage included a crew compartment,
equipment areas and a rocket engine. The lower descent stage
consisted of landing gear, a descent rocket engine and lunar
surface experiments.

The sheer size of the module — when stacked, the stages stand 23
feet tall and 14 feet wide (7 by 4.3 m) — made the LM-2
complicated to move, so its relocation to the Milestones Hall was
accomplished in two phases. Last week, the ascent stage was
transferred to the new space. The descent stage followed on
Tuesday morning (Sept. 15).

"Conservation of the lunar module will begin immediately and will
likely be completed by the end of October, though construction
barriers will be put in place in late September, obstructing its
view until early 2016,"
officials said.

The real Eagle (LM-5) remains on the moon. Its descent stage is
still at
Tranquility Base where it landed in July 1969. The
ascent stage, which is what the astronauts used to return to
orbit after their historic moonwalk, was jettisoned before they
returned to Earth and later, under the pull of gravity, impacted
the moon's surface.

LM-2's further transformation to represent Eagle will serve to
keep the Apollo 11 mission front and center in the National Air
and Space Museum after the relocation of the mission's other
spacecraft that carried the crew home.

"The Apollo 11 Command Module, Columbia, which has been in the
Milestones gallery since opening, will move to the Steven F.
Udvar-Hazy Center, in Chantilly, Virginia, for conservation later
this year," stated museum officials. "[It] will eventually be
displayed in 'Destination Moon,' another museum gallery
scheduled to open in 2020."

For about the next two weeks, visitors to the National Air and
Space Museum will have the rare chance to see both LM-2 and
Columbia, together, in the same space for the first and only
time.

The renovation of the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall is set to
be completed in time to celebrate the museum's 40th anniversary,
giving the main hall a 21st century look, featuring themes and
displays suited to today's visitors. In addition to LM-2, the new
Milestones' exhibits will include John Glenn's "Friendship 7"
Mercury capsule, the Gemini 4 space capsule, the
privately-constructed SpaceShipOne and the original
filming model of the Starship Enterprise.